Anyone up for a supportive fitness challenge this fall??

[Michelle ma Belle]

I'm in! It will also give me a reason to wear my sweatband! People tell me I really rock the headband look. (I wonder if they are being sarcastic?)

 

If you're going to be wearing your headband then you MUST be sure to wear your wrist bands too otherwise you will just look...ridiculous

[MightyPen]

Mighty Pen,

 

First, lay off the diet soda. Period, there are plenty of articles how diet soda makes you fat.

 

Second, 1700 calories a day is unsustainable over time.

A better way to do this would be:

1. Stagger your calories, 2200 one day 1700 other days

2. Keep your carbohydrate intake at 100 g per day

3. Fast for 24 hours once a week.

4. Avoid sugar and anything white. Eat sweet potatoes, beans, quinoa and oatmeal for carbohydrates

5. Portion size, make a fist, that's your portion

6. Eat all the veggies, especially green that your heart desires, because of the sugar intake veggies are better than fruit.

7. Have a cheat meal/day once a week, next day follow with the 24 hour fast

8. Cook with coconut oil, it's good fat, also great as a tablespoon

 

Exercising, stick with bodyweight exercises. Body squats and pushups and do some cardio. For a while this summer, I was running 5 miles 3 days a week, doing hill sprints 3 days a week, with 100 body squats and 100-200 pushups a day. Felt so athletic.

 

Going out in SF for dinner tonight but my workout was great. Kettlebells and sprints.

 

I'll definitely try some fasting following the cheat day to keep my body guessing. I know there is science backing up the whole "keep your body guessing" approach.

 

I tried a modified paleo a while back and hated it, but I'm down with trying to limit processed carbs as much as possible.

 

But enough about me! Other folks can post their goals! Preferably something objective and measurable.

[MightyPen]

If you're going to be wearing your headband then you MUST be sure to wear your wrist bands too otherwise you will just look...ridiculous

 

 

Of course! Headband, sweatbands, 1980s-style shorts to show off my athletic thighs and my chucks. I know how to turn heads.

[fitnessfan365]

Tues : BRUTAL 60 minute hill running workout. Would run up one hill, walking recovery to the next one, run up that, walking recovery to next one, etc.. Hills varied inclines ranging from 25-40% and length ranging from 100-300 yards. Lungs were BURNING by the end..LOL

 

Today : NASTY 60 minute full body strength circuit. Did 50 full push-up burpees w/ a BOSU ball. Broken down into 5 sets of 10. Then I did 4 sets of walking lunges w/a 75lb DB doing 8 per leg. After each set, I did jump rope for 100 revolutions. Then I put 250lbs on the Prowler sled and did three rounds. Tied the battle rope to the front and I pulled the sled in hand over hand. Then I pushed it back to the start. By the end of the hour I was lying on my back destroyed. But that's how I know I'm alive.

 

Will do my next two workouts Fri and Sat.

Edited October 21, 2015 by fitnessfan365

[MightyPen]

Holy crap, Fitnessfan, you are hardcore. Can I ask how old you are to pull off stuff like that??

 

And I'm just pleased that I squeezed in another walk, drank more water, and avoided the doughnuts yet again (they are STILL here because everyone else is trying to avoid them too).

 

And I'm googling hot yoga for my city but after one little typo I found some very disturbing Star Wars fan sites.

[Gloria25]

My challenge to anyone is to make fitness a "lifestyle" change, where your changes in diet/activity become part of your life, like brushing teeth before you go to bed.

 

My challenge right now is to maintain my level of fitness despite having to juggle my family's tempory involvement in my life. It's like threading water to keep up with my routine.

 

Also, yes, I agree with making sure you bring in enough nutrition and calories to sustain yourself. The body, if you starve it, metabolism slows down to hold on to the fat cuz body kicks into survival mode. So, you're hurting weight loss if you skip meals/starve. Now, the body may also "canabalize" itself (like loss of muscle, etc.) Cuz it needs fuel and if you don't give it any, it will hold on to reserves (fat) and if that isn't available, it will turn on itself.

 

On ID, "True Nightmares" last nite they had a good story that supports my belief that all these so-called "autoimmune" diseases are often a lack of proper nutrition and physical activity. A friend of mine recently had a diagnosis of "Lupus" lwhere I think they just defaulted to Lupus after tons of labwork) and when you look at her, she and her family literally have a McDs diet. When she got ill and didn't get started on the meds for Lupus, I brought her a basket of stuff that included nutritional drinks like Ensure and she said she felt the difference in her body when she drank it, but now that they got her on the meds, she's back to McDs, no physical activity, and no nutritional drinks, supplements, etc. And the meds have so many side effects.

 

But yeah on the ID show, this lady like in the 1900s had some place to allegedly help people get well through starving, enemas, and horrible massages. People died and even she did it for 40 days and died.

 

So, even with cleanses, fitness, diet, etc changes you gotta keep your body with sufficient fuel. And don't be scared of the word "calorie" cuz what counts is "what" kind of calories you are consuming. I mean you can have a 500 calorie honeybun or peanut butter and banana sandwich.

[Gloria25]

I'm a woman and I do the intervals of burpees and squats and stuff. I've gained muscle doing so. 1700 calories sounds really low to me! I eat almost that much and I'm 115#.

 

I hate burpees...

[fitnessfan365]

Holy crap, Fitnessfan, you are hardcore. Can I ask how old you are to pull off stuff like that??

 

Well my mindset is that I'd never have a client of mine do anything that I can't do myself. That's one reason why they respect me because they know I train just as hard as I have them do. Also, I'm very competitive with myself. Even though it sucks during, the feeling of accomplishment after I finish one of my insane workouts makes it worth it to me.

 

I'm turning 35 in a few months. But it's funny because people always think I'm 26-28. Speaking of, training like a college athlete makes me feel connected to my youth and helps me remain virile which women appreciate. Plus, I've got good genetics. My dad lettered in two sports @ UCLA (football/baseball) and almost played pro ball.

 

I hate burpees...

 

Burpees and the Prowler sled are two things that seem like they were invented by Satan himself. But as much as they both suck, they do wonders for you. I still remember years ago when I brought my Prowler sled to the gym I was training at and a few of the trainers thought it was a joke. Within ten minutes, they had their heads over the fence puking.

 

Speaking on the Prowler -

 

Prowler in action -

Edited October 22, 2015 by fitnessfan365

[fitnessfan365]

Fri : More hill runs. This time longer distances (400-500 yards). I'm happy about my progress on the hills because I've always hated long distance running and been more of a sprinter. Plus, an added bonus of consistent hill training 2-3x per week is that it has REALLY helped to lean me out.

 

Sat : INTENSE strength rotation today w/ a buddy of mine that's a trainer as well.

 

- Heavy Prowler sled hand over hand pull (30 yards)

- Heavy Prowler sled push back to the start (30 yards)

- Slow/controlled push-ups

- Heavy DB walking lunges

- Jump Rope

 

He did three rounds and I got through five. It'd been awhile since we worked out together, so I was shocked to see how much he's let his conditioning go. It's funny because at one point this older guy in his 60's walks over and says "You guys are crazy. Since you're healthy there's no need to train that hard." My response "This is why I'm so healthy".

Edited October 24, 2015 by fitnessfan365

[thefooloftheyear]

Cool thread...

 

I actually feel pretty good about where I am ...My minor nagging injuries have all settled down and I am back to killin' it...

 

I don't do any crossfit stuff, but on a fun challenge I started to do some box jumps...

 

In the 6 months I have been doing it, I have made it to 45"....My goal is 50"....The height went up fast when I started, now every inch is like a mile..

 

Not spectacular, but not bad either for a heavily muscled 5'6" 220ish lb guy......that happens to be 50 years old..

 

My goal for next year is to get my bf around 10%...Right now its around 14%, so its not too bad..

 

Good luck all..

 

TFY

[MightyPen]

Fool, 14% is pretty damn low! I'm over a decade younger and I'd kill to have 14% body fat. Well done!

 

And I guess I'll check in on Monday for the foreseeable future.

 

The good: I walked 2 miles today, did a 24-hour fast from Saturday night to Sunday night, and drank tons of water all weekend.

 

The bad: I ate too much for dinner on Sunday after following the fast. I was huuuungry. Also, I had a doughnut today...a week-old doughnut. Ugh.

[fitnessfan365]

Mon : Hill running. This continues to be a challenging workout. The best part is that you can just keep adding to it. I've managed to increase my average hill length by 50-60 yards over the last 4-6 weeks.

 

Wed : Full push-up burpees (10) -

(obviously not me in the video Haha) and Battle rope full body slams (50) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw4hTcVzHh4. (not me in the video..LOL) ** Kept switching off for 30 minutes. Tried to keep a 60 second constant rest.

 

Thurs : Parking garage workout. 1) Full sprint on the 150 yard ramp which has a 30% incline. Then I went up the ten flights of stairs. Switching off between hill sprints and stairs was BRUTAL. By the time I hit 45 minutes I was DONE.

Edited October 29, 2015 by fitnessfan365

[sweetwhispers]

I'm in!

 

Goal #1: start back daily workout routine

 

Goal #2: drink more water and eat healthier

 

Goal #3: be down 10lbs (or more) by end of 2015

[fitnessfan365]

Sat - Great outdoor workout. Was shocked that it was 86 degrees going into November though. Crazy!

 

Rotation #1 : Battle rope exercise - bleacher runs down - pull-ups - bleacher runs back - battle rope exercise - bleacher runs down - pull-ups - bleacher runs back - battle rope exercise - bleacher runs down - pull-ups - bleacher runs back.

 

Rotation # 2 : Battle rope exercise - bleacher runs down - push-up burpees - bleacher runs back - battle rope exercise - bleacher runs down - push-up burpees - bleacher runs back - battle rope exercise - bleacher runs down - push-up burpees - bleacher runs back.

 

45 minutes of full body HELL.

[Shepp]

3. Fast for 24 hours once a week.

You fast 24 hours once a week!!!

Jeez - I think the missus would end up having to lock me in the garage or divorce me! Damn, I get grouchy if I don't eat for like 3 hours!!!

[MightyPen]

You fast 24 hours once a week!!!

Jeez - I think the missus would end up having to lock me in the garage or divorce me! Damn, I get grouchy if I don't eat for like 3 hours!!!

 

Shepp, I've done it for the last couple weeks as well. It's not a big deal. You're sleeping through 1/3 of it.

 

For example, I had a regular-sized dinner on Saturday. No more food the rest of the night. Slept a good 8 hours. Skipped breakfast and lunch on Sunday (no big deal) and then had dinner that night.

 

A significant percentage of the world's population goes hungry for days...weeks...years. I've found that I am more thoughtful and sensitive to others when I deprive myself of something, even for a short period of time.

 

Plus, most of us eat too much anyway! A dude in his 80s was on one of the nightly news shows a year or two ago. He was biking across the country or something really impressive, and his words of wisdom about staying healthy were, "be a little hungry, and be a little tired."

[Ruby Slippers]

I'm in. My weight has been slowly inching up since my breakup in August, and I want to lose 10-15 pounds. Basically, I just need to:

 

Clean up my diet - I usually do OK here if I just keep the sweets and fatty foods out of the house. My staples for home-cooked fall foods right now are roasted vegetables and soup, with the usual fruit, yogurt, and lean meat. The main thing I need to do is just keep the junk out of the house, especially now that we're in holiday season. Right now I have leftover pumpkin pie from Halloween in the fridge, and I'm planning to spread that around to family and friends.

 

Exercise more - I play tennis pretty regularly, but lately I've gotten bogged down with work and haven't been playing as much. But I need to ramp it up again, because I've found it's the very best way for me to get a long, hard workout that I think of mostly as a fun thing I want to do, rather than exercise I have to do. My opponent in a league match tracked the match last week, and told me she ran 2.5 miles in our short match. That means I ran about the same. Cardio and full-body strength training - can't beat that! I also want to get back to strength training at home. It doesn't take that long, I enjoy it, and it makes a noticeable impact on my figure and how I feel. Finally, I'd like to start taking more walks during the day. I recently moved into a cute neighborhood that's great for walking, so I need to get to it. It's good exercise and will give me a good break from work to clear my head.

 

I'm not going to be too regimented about it for now. But I'll get more regimented if my natural efforts aren't working.

[fitnessfan365]

Good post Ruby. I like the way that you give yourself an honest assessment and know how to implement changes. A lot of people make excuses, act like they have no idea what changed when they do deep down, etc..

 

Mon - Rotated between 10 push-up burpees and jump rope for 125 rotations. I managed to do 8 rounds of each in 30 minutes. My goal is to be able to ten each in 30 minutes. So if I can shave 15-30 secs off a few of the rest periods I'll hit it. But let me tell you, for a 30 minute workout I was REALLY tired. I felt as exhausted doing this as I would a 45-60 minute workout. There's something about the combo of burpees and juimp rope that hits you HARD.

Edited November 3, 2015 by fitnessfan365

[MightyPen]

Fasting today. I think the whole Walking Dead episode on Sunday put me in a whole contemplative mood. So whenever I get hungry today I'll try to think of folks who go hungry every single day. I'll drink tons of water though (something I know many folks don't have access to either).

 

Plus, I'll keep my body guessing as to how many calories to expect every day.

[fitnessfan365]

I'll drink tons of water though (something I know many folks don't have access to either)

 

 

Haha.. Come on man. It's not like we're living during an apocalypse. Water is available all over the place. You can even take old gallon bottles and fill them up @ Glacier fill up machines for .30 a gallon..LOL

 

Tues - Found a great spot w/a variety of hills to run at. Tried to keep walking recovery shorter and lengthen the amount of time on hills. Went for 45 minutes. Good way to start out my day!

[DrReplyInRhymes]

I think I might do this. I haven't been to a gym in a year and I KNOW I have to start again....

[Ruby Slippers]

Yesterday I put a notebook on my desk and started writing down what I'm eating and drinking. Simple awareness always helps me clean up my diet. I'm seeing the proof of what I already knew - I'm eating too many carbs and not enough fruits, vegetables, and lean protein.

 

I spent some time this evening watching videos on easy, healthy meals, including salads. I usually pick 1 or 2 bulk meals to make each week, and for the next round, I think I'm going to do some combination of the fixins for a good salad, soup, and big pan of roasted vegetables.

[Rosh]

I like this plan Michelle. Can I copy this? I hope I can keep up!

 

 

Okakeedokee.

 

I've already been on this path of self improvement for the past couple of weeks or so. A much needed distraction I suppose.

 

My goal is simple; eat better, move more and find my balance again spiritually.

 

Food - No sugar of any kind. No white flour/gluten. No dairy. I've been juicing most of my meals lately as well as supplementing with lots of fresh fruit, veggies, legumes and the occasional piece of fish. Personally, I'm done with the counting calories and carbs and whatever. It's about eliminating the bad stuff and replacing it with lots of good stuff until I'm satisfied.

 

Exercise - For right now I'm focusing on (hot) yoga, rebounding, walking (love the fall!). Eventually I'll ramp it up now that I've purchased a new gym membership.

 

Mental - I've been doing a LOT of meditating these days. I've been reading some amazing books. I practice daily gratitude and I've started to paint again which has been very cathartic in and of itself.

 

Goal - My goal isn't to fit into a certain dress size or weigh a certain amount but to just feel cleaner, lighter, healthier both physically and mentally.

 

Good luck everyone!

[fitnessfan365]

Wed - Rotated between pushing the Prowler sled down and immediately back (250lbs and 30 yards each way) with battle rope exercises. Did six of each in 45 minutes.

 

Thurs - Rotated between hill sprints (100-150 yards and 30% incline) and stairs (12 flights) for 45 minutes. Did this at a parking garage near my place. Always feels good to use the real world for exercise and not be stuck in a gym.

[fitnessfan365]

Got five days in a row of exercise this week! Taking the weekend off for recovery.

 

Fri - Full body strength circuit : Rotated between 30 yards of walking lunges w/a 65lb DB and 12 bar dips. Did three of each. Then rotated between kettlebell swings w/a 80lb for 15 reps and 10 pull-ups. Did three sets of each. Then for the final rotation I switched between 100 all out hits on the heavy bag (50 each arm) and bear crawls for 30 yards. Did three of each.

 

So overall I hit 18 total work sets in 45 minutes. BRUTAL!